Both lynching and attempted lynching cases showed a 190% increase in Mexico in 2018, according to a study conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) .
Through a “ Special Report on Lynchings in the National Territory ,” the institutions informed that 174 lynchings had taken place in 2018 alone, whereas only 60 lynchings were reported in 2017.
The 174 cases that were reported last year left a toll of 271 victims, out of which 21 died and the rest (79%) suffered mild to severe injuries.
Among the victims, there were 256 men and 15 women
. Around 76% of all aggressions occurred in Puebla, the State of Mexico, Tabasco, Mexico City, and Hidalgo.
Moreover, the specific municipalities where the lynchings occurred were Puebla, Tehuacán, San Martín Texmelucan, Tlacotepec de Benito Juárez, Ecatepec, Naucalpan, Chalco, Nezahualcóyotl, Cárdenas, Villahermosa, Cunduacán, Nacajuca, Milpa Alta, Iztapalapa, Tlalpan, Cuajimalpa, Xochimilco, Álvaro Obregón, Ixmiquilpan, Mixquiahuala, Tasquillo, and Tezontepec de Aldama .
The study conducted by the CNDH and UNAM was based on a series of briefings and news articles from both local and national media outlets that registered lynchings.
Between 2015 and 2018, the institutions registered a total of 336 cases with a substantial trend to rise, leaving a toll of 561 victims.
During the report presentation, Luis Raúl González Pérez, chairman of the CNDH , pointed out that the phenomenon was far from disappearing. Instead, it has multiplied and spread through different regions while Mexican authorities have mostly ignored the problem.
Furthermore, González Pérez claimed that the number of group aggressions during the first five months of 2019 was higher than during the same period last year, with 67 cases registered so far and a toll of 107 victims.
In view of this, the UNAM, though its Social Investigations Institute, applied surveys to 1,212 people in the four states where most lynchings have been registered.
45% of people surveyed claimed that authorities’ performance in dealing with lynchings was “completely ineffective,” whereas 40% considered that it was “mostly ineffective.”
Moreover, 43% of subjects surveyed considered that warning people not to commit crimes by placing billboards did not help at all.
dm